"Ezili Dantor, se pa jodi m'ap wele!
Eh, Ezili Dantor, se pa jodi m'ap wele!
Chache nou te ye, sante de pye'm 'ap kase.
Ezili Dantor, o sove... sove mwe!"
I AM She who is called Maitress Erzulie Dantor, the Black One, Lady Luck, the Mother of Twins, Seven Stabs of the Knife, Mistress of Vodou... and other things... in Haiti.
I come from the island's North, ancestral stronghold of the Kongos; there my children call me Zila Moyo, and know that I am NOT really Petwo. In the Northwest, I am Manzila Manyan. At Soukri, they know me as Madanm Lenmba, after my husband. In the South, they call Manbo Zila. In the West near Port-au-Prince, they call the name Erzulie Dantor or Danpetwo. And everywhere, I am Laren Sanpwel!
I am woman without man, mother without father. I am mother AND father. I am she who nurtures and protects, the mother who fights. I am she who rages and destroys, the mother who devours.
I give well-being, great luck and protection to those I love... eh, those who are useful to me, honestly. To these few, I grant all capacity and power. For them, I would move heaven and earth. Woe to the one who dares come against them!
BE WARNED! When I give, I demand stringent royalties. And my faithful must serve me without mixing my care with that of any other mistress. Nor will I allow variation in the rites due me or the payment owed me. No, I do not respond kindly to half-measures.
Many are my lovers and many are those I love... my brother Jan Dantor, ever at my side, but not so much as my first born Jan Petwo. Yet, my greatest love is neither of these. No, my greatest love is and will always be my youngest child, forever in my arms... the boy-girl or girl-boy so beautiful and wild, so unrestrained and destructive... so callous. Outsiders call the child Anäis, but the old ones know it is only Gougoun, the terrible boy-girl or girl-boy, messenger of my will. Woe be to those foolish enough to call this name alone.
Many claim I do fierce battle with my sister, the white one... Erzulie Freda Dahomey. They call us mortal enemies and, with slander, say we are insanely jealous, one over the other. Bah! I am in NO WAY jealous of that tart. My sister is just a bitch!
I tell you, truly, my enemy is not Freda at all... but Mapyan. Erzulie Mapyan, she who lies.
It was during the battle of Bwa Kayiman, when the great revolutionary force summoned as well the adepts who controlled it, together split between the forces of Kongo... my antagonists, and Petwo... my partisans. Fierce the battle raged, a battle for freedom, and another unseen battle, a struggle for control!Side-by-side, I fought with the men, fought with one hand only... for in the other I held tight my son-daughter, my other half, my complement.
Covetous of my power and skill, and jealous of my alliances, Mapyan betrayed me. And with glee, saw to it my tongue be cut out... so 'til now I do not speak.
Not satisfied by this treachery, Mapyan cut into my face... three marks I will forever carry. Blood ran into my eyes as I slipped into madness. Thus enraged, I broke free and seized upon Mapyan... stabbing at her again and again, stabbing her seven times over.
But for the blood in my eyes, my children would never confuse me with Je Wouj (Red Eyed). This is none other than Erzulie Mapyan herself. Do not be deceived by that Liar. North, Northwest and L'Artibonite know I am not Erzulie Je Wouj... nor am I Petwo.
I AM Erzulie Dantor Onadi, Manzila Manyan, Negres Zila Moyo-Zinga Moyoyo, Negres Bila, Negres Kiman Aloumbwa Danpetwo, Madanm Lenmba et Laren Sanpwel!
And I have a myspace!
